The U.S. spy agency CIA has pulled most of its operatives from the U.S. Embassy in China after two massive cyber attacks on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) computers earlier this year. Though Washington has refused to publicly blame China for the cyber theft, officials believe that Chinese government was behind the attacks.
CIA takes a precautionary measure
CIA’s move was a precautionary measure as the hacks exposed personal records of 22 million U.S. government employees. OPM said the records contained security clearance background checks as well as 5.6 million fingerprints, reports the Washington Post. China could use the massive data to identify American spies, and then recruit them or blackmail them to provide sensitive information.
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